Recently, one U.S. Representative, speaking off the record about the Planned Parenthood controversy, recalled Ronald Reagan’s 1983 “Evil Empire Speech,” where he described the Soviet Union as “the focus of evil in the modern world.” One biographer writes that this speech was “the single most important speech of the Reagan presidency” (Ronald Reagan, 135).

This U.S. Representative argued for calling acts of evil what they are: evil. The abortions taking place at Planned Parenthood are not merely routine medical procedures, but are in fact the systematic killing of children. Every human being on the face of the earth knows this is murder.

It may be legal murder, but that doesn’t make it any less the killing of children.

Acceptable Terminology Doesn’t Change Reality

A recent Rolling Stone article titled “Planned Parenthood Is Not Harvesting ‘Baby Parts’” argues that research institutions and public universities who purchase “baby parts” wouldn’t use that particular term. Instead, medical professionals would use technical terms such as “fetal tissue and products of conception.” While medical terms helpfully describe medical procedures more modestly, let’s not deceive ourselves.

A colonoscopy is a much better term than a crude description of the procedure, but the formal medical term doesn’t change the reality of what is taking place: Your doctor is taking an intimate and invasive look into your large intestine. The use of the medical term doesn’t make it any easier to stomach. Planned Parenthood’s harvesting of “products of conception” doesn’t make it any less the systematic killing of unborn children and the subsequent packaging of the bodies in order to turn a profit.

The greatest evil is not done now in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is not even done in concentration camps and labor camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried and minuted) in clear, carpeted, warmed, and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voice.

These evils are indeed taking place in well-lit offices and facilities of Planned Parenthood by the well-manicured hands of abortionists.

The Hundred and One Children

Cruella de Vil, the villain in the 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, popularized by Disney, kidnaps Dalmatian puppies for their fur. Think with me for a moment, and ask what would happen if this scenario took place today.

Some upscale clothing company decides to debut a new line of coats made from the fur of golden retriever puppies. But not just any golden retriever puppies. These are unwanted golden retrievers. The breeder decided to breed more puppies than he could care for or sell, so instead of putting these puppies up for adoption, he decides to have them euthanized. And now, since the puppies are dead anyways, this breeder proceeds to sell the fur in order to make luxurious coats for red carpet fashion.

Imagine the public outrage. What would we call this? Evil. Heartless. Wicked. Cruel. Unthinkable. PETA would lose their minds. Crowds would call for the government to strip the breeder of his license or permit, and social media would be filled with worse. Fair-minded citizens would no longer patronize this clothing maker. The whole operation and anyone associated with it would come crashing down in flames.

Abortion Is Evil

Christians must tell it like it is. Abortion is murder. Left alone in our sin, we’re all capable of it, and so we pray for God to change the hearts and minds of our nation, whether through videos, or peaceful, prayerful protests, or whatever other means he chooses to use. Isaiah says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

The deeds of darkness have been exposed, they are ugly, and they must end.